Listening Exercises B2 – Participating in a seminar

c

a   The discussion is fairly well-balanced. Three people are in favour of protecting languages and two people don’t agree.

b   It’s a bit of both. The discussion starts strongly in favour of protecting languages, then reservations and counter arguments are made and things become increasingly heated. The discussion never becomes hostile, though. A good seminar should involve lively discussion!

c   Not completely. Three speakers (A, D and E) do most of the talking.

a 5   b 1   c 3   d 4   e 2

a   According to the UNESCO report, there are more than 6000 languages in the world today, and over half are in danger of dying out by 2100.

b   Speakers of the Ainu language come from Japan. Speakers of the Maori languages live in New Zealand.

c   In 1991, only 19% of the population of Wales spoke Welsh. Today it’s around 25%.

d   The arguments in favour of language revitalization are: languages tell us about who we are; you can’t separate language from culture.

e   The arguments against language revitalization are: it might be natural for languages to become extinct; speaking the same language might help global understanding; the cost of protecting minority languages is high; the money could be spent on saving people from starvation and disease.

Transcript

A:     According to the UNESCO report we read, there are more than 6,000 languages in the world today, but over half are in danger of dying out before the end of this century …

B:     Yeah, like the language used by the Ainu in Japan. It has less than a few hundred speakers left.

A:     Or the Maori language in New Zealand. The report says one language becomes extinct every two weeks. It’s terrible. Basically, I think we need to do whatever it takes to keep these languages alive.

D:     Hmm. I don’t quite see it like that. Can you actually protect a language anyway?

B:     Yes, Welsh is a great example.

D:     Really?    

B:     Yes. When the Welsh Language Board was set up in 1991, only 19% of the population spoke Welsh. Now it’s up to around 25% I think, and rising, and most speakers are younger than 30.

A:     Yeah, the fact is language revitalization is critical. Every government should do what they can to support languages.

D:     I’m not sure I agree. I wonder if we need 6,000 languages. I mean, languages become extinct for a reason, you know … because nobody wants to speak them! We can’t assume that every language must naturally survive.

E:     I think that’s a good point. I mean, things change.

C:     But, you know, languages tell us about who we are. You can’t separate language from culture. Take one away, and the other dies.

E:     I don’t agree. at least, not for Italy.

A:     Do you think you could say a bit more about that, please Maria?

E:     Sure. Before, there have been over a hundred languages or at least different dialects, in Italy but now basically we all speak Italian, we all feel Italian. We haven’t lost our culture because we all speak the same language.

D:     And if we all spoke the same language at least we’d understand each other. There’d be fewer wars and …

C:     I think you might be mistaken on that point. I don’t think there would be fewer wars, for a start.

E:     Also it costs millions and millions of pounds to keep these tiny languages from dying out.

A:     I don’t think you’ve got that right.

C:     So you think everyone in the world should speak English?

E:     Why not? We all do! Let’s use the money on food and clean water for people.

B:     That’s ridiculous.

D:     I don’t think so. Are you saying we should let people die just to spend the money on saving a language hardly anyone speaks? Which is more important … the life of a person, or the life of a language?

1 words   2 Basically   3 asking   4 another   5 suppose

a 3   b 1   c 5   d 4   e 2

Transcript

1   In other words, I’d like to know why you think English has become so important.

2   Basically, what I want to know is why more people don’t care about the problem.

3   I guess what I’m really asking is do you think another language will ever take over as the language of global communication?

4   To put it another way, are some languages more important than others.

5   I suppose what I’m driving at is can we really protect all the languages there are in the world today?

a   do you mean

b   of what you’ve

c   go along with

d   really do think

e   the way I feel

f   back to the point

g   got it wrong

h   what I meant

i   you’re saying

j   you think

k   finish what I

l   say something

1 j   2 a   3 l   4 k   5 g   6 f   7 e   8 c   9 b   10 I   11 h   12 d

Transcript

a   Sorry, what do you mean exactly?

b   I agree with some of what you’ve said.

c   No, sorry. I don’t really go along with that.

d   I really do think that it’s important.

e   That’s the way I feel too.

f   Can we get back to the point here, please?

g   My mistake. I got it wrong. Sorry.

h   That’s not really what I meant.

i   OK. So what you’re saying is …

j   What do you think, Peter?

k   Sorry, can I just finish what I was saying?

l   Can I say something here?